Shuttle driving mechanism for looms



Dec. 14, 1937. w. E. BURNS ET AL SHUTTLE DRIVING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed July 17, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS Q, WILLIAM E. BURNS suasm: N. MILLER BY, AT NEY Z Dec. 14, 1937;

w. E. BURNS ET AL 2,101,981

SHUTTLE DRIVING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS I Filed July 17, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 -iiF ii 7 mxa gv, '////////4///////////// TELEI-23.

INVENTORS WILLIAM E. BURNS EUGENE N. MILLER Patented Dec. 14, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE snc'r'riln DRIVING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS sylvania Application July 17, 1936, Serial No. 91,118

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to shuttle driving mechanism for looms. Prior to our invention it has been the usual practice to drive the shuttle and other correlated parts of the loom through eccentric or elliptical gears and to connect the shuttles to their driving mechanism by leather or woven belting and the like. Such drives have many objections among which are that they are noisy, the wear is excessive, shuttle movement comprises but a small fraction of each cycle of operation and must, therefore, be very rapid, accurate timing and coordination of the parts is impossible owing to the stretch of the flexible drive and inaccuracies in the gearing, and other objections. The principal objects of the present invention, therefore, are to overcome the above noted and other defects and objections in shuttle driving mechanism. More specifically, one object is to drive the shuttle by a positive mechanical means so that its movement is always under control and its movement through the shed can be started when the shed is but partly formed or opened, thereby increasing the proportion of the cycle during which the shuttle is inmotion. This re- 29 sults in lower shuttle speed if the speed of the loom as a whole be kept constant, of if the shuttle speed be made the same as formerly, then the speed of the loom as a whole may be in creased. We have found it practicable with our 30 invention to increase the speed of the loom by fifty percent and more.

Another object of our invention is to drive the shuttle of a loom from a cam which is driven at uniform speed and so shaped as to impart motion to the shuttle without shock or jar and in proper timed relation to the movement of the lay-beam or batten and formation of the sheds.

Still other objects of the invention are to simplify the construction of shuttle driving mechanisms, reduce their cost and upkeep, eliminate noise, shocks and wear, speed up the operation of the loom, and secure other advantages that will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

45 In the accompanying drawings, we have illustrated one embodiment of our invention in a driving mechanism for a narrow fabric or tape loom, but this is for illustration only, the invention being applicable to looms with double deck 50 battens and also to looms for weaving wide and narrow fabrics, wire cloth, etc.

Fig. 1 is an end elevation, partly in section, of a narrow fabric loom embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view taken on the line 22 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, looking from left to right of Fig. 2, with the batten in section.

Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2. The vertical frame members I, 2 of the loom are connected by the horizontal braces or cross 5 bars 3, 4, 5 and the lay-beam or batten 6 is mounted to swing on the swords l, 8. The batten is oscillated on the swords by the pitman 9 which is connected to the crank pin I6 on the gear H, which is driven at uniform speed from the motor 10 I2 through the reducing gears I3, It, i5. A shuttle operating rack l6 slides in the lay-beam and through pinions I1 shifts the shuttles 13 back and forth through the sheds to weave the tapes l9. At one end the rack I6 is connected to a 1 slide adapted to slide in guideways 2! formed in a guide 22 fixed to the batten 6. A bracket 23 fixed to the slide 20 carries a vertical pin 24 having a roller 24 operating in a slot 25 in one end of the lever 26, which is pivoted at its opposite 20 end to a fulcrum block 2'! fixed to the vertical frame member 2. Intermediate its ends the lever 26 carries a roller 28 which engages in the race 29 of a cam 30 mounted on the vertical shaft 3| and driven by bevel gears 32, 33 from the shaft 25 34 on which the gear II is mounted. The gear 32 twice the diameter of the gear 33 so that the shaft 3| and cam 30 make one revolution to each two revolutions of the gear II. The cam race 29 has two rises or active sections 35, 35 and tWo 30 dwells or inactive sections 37, 38 so that for each rotation of the cam the shuttles 18 will be passed twice (once each way) through the sheds. A lever support bracket 39 is fixed to the vertical frame member I and on its upper face has a 35 flat bearing surface 40 on which a flat bearing or boss 4| formed on the lever 25 rests and is adapted to slide as the lever oscillates.

The lever 26 oscillates in a horizontal plane and the slot 25 is of sufiicient length that the batten 40 6 may oscillate while the pin 24 remains in the slot 25, the pin being slightly longer than the thickness of the lever. Oscillation of the lever 26 reciprocates the slide 20 in the guideways 2| and the shuttle rack [6. In Fig. 2 we have shown in dotted and full lines the two extreme positions of the lever 26.

It will be seen that by the construction just shown and described the movement of the shuttles is always under control and we are, therefore, enabled to start the shuttle movement just as soon as the sheds have opened Wide enough to permit the points of the shuttles to enter and the sheds can begin to close before the shuttles are entirely free, which greatly increases the length of time available for the shuttle movement. We can, therefore, move the shuttles much slower than has heretofore been possible for any given speed of the lay-beam, or by keeping the shuttle speed equal to what is now considered good practice, we can greatly speed up the loom as a whole.

While we have shown our invention as applied to a loom for weaving tape or narrow fabrics, it is, of course, capable of use on any type of loom. The shuttle rack I6 is but illustrative of one form of shuttle actuating mechanism and the invention contemplates that the shuttle rack may be a shuttle bar or other shuttle actuating means used on other types of looms. We have shown the lever 26 fulcrumed to the frame at one end and the cam for actuating the lever between its ends, an obvious modification of this would be to pivot the lever intermediate its ends and have the cam 30 engage it at one end instead of midway of its length.

Many other modifications and equivalents of the mechanism herein illustrated will be suggested to those skilled in this art and we claim as our invention all such that come within the scope of our claims, or are equivalents thereof.

What we claim is:

1. In combination, a swinging batten, a shuttle actuating member carried thereby and slida 1e therealong, a guide on end end of the batten, a slide slidable therein and connected to said shuttle actuating member, a lever pivoted to swing in a horizontal plane and operatively connected at one end to said slide to move said slide and member along the batten, said connection permitting oscillation of said slide with respect to said lever, a horizontal bearing for said lever intermediate its connection to said slide and said cam, a cam for oscillating said lever, and means for driving said batten and lever in timed relation.

2. In combination, a batten, a shuttle rack slidable thereon, a guide on one end of the batten, a slide in the guide connected to said rack, a vertical pin carried by said guide, a lever pivoted at one end to swing in a horizontal plane and at its other end having a longitudinal slot engaging said guide .pin, a horizontal cam for swinging said lever, a

horizontal bearing for said lever positioned to support it above said cam, a crank and pitman for swinging the batten, and means for driving said cam and crank in timed relation to batten and shuttle movements.

3. In combination, a batten, a shuttle rack slidable thereon, a guide on one end of the batten, a slide in the guide connected to said rack, a vertical pin carried by said guide, a lever pivoted at one end to swing in a horizontal plane and at its other end having a longitudinal slot engaging said guide pin, a cam rotating in a horizontal plane, a roller on said lever intermediate its ends engaging in said cam to swing the lever, a fixed lever support, a bearing on said lever between the cam and slotted end and slidable on said support, a crank and pitman for swinging said batten, and means for driving said cam and crank in timed relation to batten and shuttle movements.

' WILLIAM E. BURNS. EUGENE N. MILLER. 

